Small scale variability in soil moisture drives infection of vulnerable juniper populations by invasive forest pathogen

The oomycete plant pathogen, Phytophthora austrocedri, is an aggressive killer of cypress trees causing severe mortality of Chilean cedar (Austrocedrus chilensis) in Argentina since the 1940s and now common juniper (Juniperus communis s.l.) in the UK. Rapid mortality of key UK juniper populations was first observed in the early 2000s; the causal agent of mortality was confirmed as P. austrocedri in 2012 and the pathogen has now been widely detected - but is not ubiquitous - in juniper populations across Scotland and England. Although juniper has a broad distribution across the northern hemisphere, the UK incidence of P. austrocedri remains the only confirmed infection of juniper populations globally. Juniper is an important species for biodiversity, so it is imperative to understand the abiotic and biotic drivers of emergent P. austrocedri infection to inform detection, containment and conservation strategies to manage juniper populations across the full extent of its range. As mana...卵菌门植物病原菌austrocedri疫霉（Phytophthora austrocedri）是一种高致病性柏科树木致病菌，自20世纪40年代起便在阿根廷引发智利雪松（Austrocedrus chilensis）大规模死亡，如今又在英国造成普通刺柏（广义欧洲刺柏，Juniperus communis s.l.）的严重枯死。英国境内核心刺柏种群的快速枯死现象最早于21世纪初被观测到，2012年证实其致病原即为austrocedri疫霉；目前该病原菌已在苏格兰与英格兰的刺柏种群中广泛检出，但尚未全域分布。尽管刺柏在北半球分布广泛，但全球范围内仅英国确认存在austrocedri疫霉侵染刺柏种群的案例。刺柏是对生物多样性具有重要意义的物种，因此阐明该新兴病原菌侵染的非生物与生物驱动因子，对于制定检测、防控与保护策略以管理全域范围内的刺柏种群至关重要。As mana...